Till There Was You (1:59)

“Till There Was You” is a song by Meredith Willson, then covered by The Beatles. Written in 1957 for the musical play The Music Man. The song is sung by librarian Marian Paroo (Barbara Cook on Broadway, Shirley Jones in the film) to Professor Harold Hill (portrayed by Robert Preston) toward the end of Act Two.

The Beatles’ version was included on their albums With the Beatles (UK Release, 1963) and Meet the Beatles (US Release, 1964). The song was the only Broadway tune the Beatles ever recorded.

“Till There Was You” was a minor hit in the UK for Peggy Lee in March 1961. Paul McCartney was introduced to her music by his older cousin, Bett Robbins, who would occasionally baby-sit the two McCartney brothers. McCartney said: “I had no idea until much later that it was from The Music Man.”

“Till There Was You” was part of the Beatles repertoire in 1962 and performed at the Star Club in Hamburg. It became illustrative of the Beatles versatility, proving they could appeal to all sections of an audience, moving easily from ballads to rock and roll, as in their live 1963 Royal Command Performance when they followed this song with “Twist and Shout”.

The Beatles had previously performed “Till There Was You” as part of their failed audition for Decca Records in London on January 1, 1962 and it was the second of six the group sang during their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on February 9th, 1964